Compress.



- Patented Aug. l9, I902. M. M. KERR.

C 0 M P R E S 8 (Application filed Apr. 10

(No Model.)

YHE uonms rzrm co, mom-mun" WASHINGTON, D, c.

Un tarian S rarns PATENT OFFICE.

MARK MARTIN KERR, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

COMPRESS.

SPECIFIGATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 707,426, datedAugrist-IQ, 1902.

Application filed April 10, 1902. Serial No. 102,303. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, MARK MARTIN KERR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Oompress,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in devices employed for the treatment of varicocele, and has for its principal object to provide an improved form of compress, by which any desired pressure may be maintained on the affected parts.

A further object of the invention is to provide of device of this character in which the pressure may be adjusted to any desired eX- tent and maintained as a constant pressure.

A still further object is to provide for the ready adjustment of the supporting-straps and to render the device readily removable without disturbing the supporting-belt.

A still further object is toprovide for the employment of a non-elastic apron and to simplify the construction and arrangement of parts, with a view of strengthening the apron and its support.

W'ith these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a compress constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the compressing-apron and its supportingstraps, illustrating the method of connecting the straps to each other and to the apron.

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the adj nstable buckle carried by the waist-belt and serving to support the apron-straps.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

The device is employed principally for the treatment of varicocele and is designed to exert constant pressure on the afiected parts, as distinguished from the usual supporters and similar devices which employ receivingpouches of a more or less elastic character.

Referring to the drawings, 10 indicates a waist-belt having at one end a buckle 11 for the reception of the opposite end of the belt to permit of proper adjustment. On the belt are arranged a pair of sliding buckles each comprising a metallic plate 12, provided with a pair of slots 13, through which the belt is passed, the walls of the slots being bent at a slight angle in order to hold the buckle in any adjusted position. On the lower portion of the plate 12 is clamped a slotted plate 14:, forming two bars, over the upper of which passes a strap 15, that portion of the strap between the bar and the belt being confined in place by the friction between the two. Two straps are employed, each of precisely the same construction and each carrying at one end a buckle 16, which is disposed in front of the body of the wearer, the straps thence passing down under the body and crossing each other, as indicated at 17. The straps then pass up around the rear portion and sides of the body, over the bars 14, and thence down to a buckle 16 on the front end of the opposite strap.

20 designates a triangular piece of inelastic webbing having at its edges a suitable binding or reinforcing tape 21, the side tapes being stitched to the supporting-straps 15 from the crossing-point 17 to a point just below the buckles 16 and forming a flat V-shaped apron which may be adjusted in-position under any desired strain by shortening the strap 15. The pressure may be regulated in a variety of waysand any desired adjustment be obtained by shifting the position of the beltbuckles, or by drawing the front end of the supporting-strap up through the slotted plate '14 and over the supporting-bar, or by an adjustment in the reverse direction, as may be required, and after the adjustment of the straps to conform to the body the pressure may be regulated by drawing more or less of the strap ends through the buckles 16. The position of the buckle 16 also forms a convenient means of temporarily removing the apron during the day and permits of proper loosening or tightening of the apron at any time without entirely removing the device from the person.

While the construction herein described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, is the preferred form of the device, it is obvious that various changes in the form, proportions, size, and minor details of the ing-belt, adjustable buckles carried by the belt, the straps from each side of the apron at the front of the body extending continuously to the buckle of the belt at the opposite side of the body and thence to the fastening devices above the apron.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my ownI have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

I MARK MARTIN KERR.

Witnesses:

ED.'M. SPANGENBERG, A. T. HART. 

